How to Protect Oneself

□劉曉妮

How to Protect Oneself

□劉曉妮

每個人都有自我保護的本能，動物也不例外。一些動物是通過自身的顏色變化來保護自己的，如我們所熟知的變色龍便是。

In nature，you may see many insects1and animals of different colors. Have you ever wondered why？

在自然界中，你可以看到許多不同顏色的昆蟲和動物。你有沒有想過這是為什么呢？

1. insect：n.蟲，昆蟲

Locusts1are super delicious food for birds，but it is not always an easy job for birds to catch them. It is neither because locusts are good jumpers or runners nor because they are smarter2than their enemies. The reason is that the colors of locusts change with the colors of crops3. When crops are young，locusts look green. But when autumn comes，locusts change to the yellow and brown color as crops do.

蝗蟲對于鳥類來說是一種超級美味的食物，但鳥類捕捉它們并不是一件容易的事，既不是因為蝗蟲是好的彈跳者或運動員，也不是因為它們比敵人更聰明。原因是蝗蟲的顏色隨作物的顏色變化。當莊稼未成熟的時候，蝗蟲看起來是綠色的。但是當秋天來臨時，蝗蟲就隨著莊稼的顏色變成黃色和棕色的了。

1. locust：n.蝗蟲，蚱蜢

2. smart：adj.聰明的；敏捷的

3. crop：n.農作物；莊稼

Brown bears，tigers and other animals move quietly through1forests. They can’t be seen easily by their enemies. This is because they havecolors similar2to the trees. For the same reason，polar bears that live on a land of snow and ice are white. Butterflies and bees living among the flowers are colorful like flowers. Soil3insects are mostly dark- colored and they live under the soil in a dark and wet environment4. However，insects with colors different from plants can easily be found and eaten by others. So in order to survive5，they have to hide themselves in the daytime and appear only at night.

棕熊、老虎和其他動物在森林中靜靜地走動，它們不會輕易被敵人看見。這是因為它們有類似于樹的顏色。因為同樣的原因，生活在一片冰天雪地上的北極熊是白色的。生活在花叢中的蝴蝶和蜜蜂，像花朵一樣是五顏六色的。生活在土壤中的昆蟲大多是深色的，它們生活在黑暗和潮濕的土壤中。然而，與植物不同顏色的昆蟲卻可能很容易被發現和吃掉。所以為了生存，它們不得不在白天躲起來，只在晚上才出現。

1. through：prep.透過；經由；通過，穿過

2. similar：adj.相似的；類似的；同樣的；同類的

3. soil：n.泥土；土壤

4. environment：n.環境，外界

5. survive：vi.幸存，活下來

Have you ever noticed some even stranger acts？The ink fish in the sea can send out some very black ink when it faces danger. As the ink spreads1over，its enemies will find themselves suddenly in a dark world. At the same time the ink fish immediately2swims away. That is how it keeps itself safe though3it is not strong at all.

你有沒有注意到一些更加奇怪的行為？海中的烏賊魚在面對危險時會散發出一些很黑的墨水。當墨水灑出來時，它的敵人會突然發現自己處在一個黑暗的世界里，同時烏賊魚會立即游走。這就是它如何保證自己的安全的，雖然它一點也不強大。

1. spread：vt.& vi.展開；伸開；（使）傳播；（使）散布

2. immediately：adv.立即，馬上

3. though：conj.即使；雖然，盡管；縱然